Breakable container for games

ABSTRACT

A breakable container, commonly called a piñata, has a first half, a second half, a fastener to attach the halves together, and a decorative portion. The first half and the second half form a hollow main body when they are assembled by engaging the fastener. The decorative portion is attached to the main body, and the halves are made of fragile material. The halves includes first half projections, and second half projections that form main projections that extend from the main body. The decorative portion includes cone-shaped decoration enclosures having connecting ends that are attached to the main projections. The fastener includes fixing projections on the first half projections, and fixing recesses on the second half projections along the mating line. The fixing projections are inserted into the fixing recesses and fit tight with each other when the first half and the second half are assembled.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a breakable container for games. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to a breakable container for games,which is easy to produce and transport.

A breakable container is widely used for children's games. A typicalexample is the piñata, which is used at events such as birthdays, andcontains candies or toys. The piñata is made of breakable material suchas paper or clay. It is suspended from the ceiling or a tree and becomesbroken to release stuffs inside by wielding a stick, etc.

Since the breakable container is made to have some volume to containtoys or candies, and is usually made of light and fragile material, thebreakable containers are very bulky and require large boxes and thus aredifficult to transport and expensive to ship, especially overseas.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention contrives to solve the disadvantage of the priorart.

An objective of the invention is to provide a breakable container thatincreases the ability of a shipper of these items to ship them in acompact manner that reduces the space required by many times the spacerequired to send one breakable container. This reduction in necessaryspace effectively will reduce the cost and energy required to ship thebreakable container.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a breakable containerfor ease of storage when the item is not being used.

Still another objective of the invention is to provide a breakablecontainer that is easy to assemble. Still another objective of theinvention is to provide a breakable container that includes variousdecorative features.

To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides abreakable container that includes a first half, a second half, afastener to attach the first half and the second half together, and adecorative portion. The first half and the second half form a hollowmain body when the first half and the second half are assembled byengaging the fastener. The decorative portion is attached to the mainbody. The first half and the second half are made of fragile materialincluding paper, and plastic foam, etc.

The first half includes one or more first half projections, and thesecond half includes one or more second half projections that correspondto the first half projections. The first half projections and the secondhalf projections form one or more main projections that extend from themain body when the first half and the second half are assembled byengaging the fastener. The decorative portion includes one or moredecoration enclosures, each of the decoration enclosure includes aconnecting end that is attached to the main projection.

Preferably, the decoration enclosures are cone-shaped, and thedecoration enclosures are attached to the main projections with adhesivetapes that are pre-installed on the main projections.

The fastener includes a plurality of fixing projections provided on thefirst half along the mating line between the first half and the secondhalf, and a plurality of fixing recesses provided on the second halfalong the mating line between the first half and the second half. Thefixing projections are inserted into the fixing recesses and fit tightwith each other when the first half and the second half are assembled.Particularly, the fixing projections are provided on the first halfprojections, and the fixing recesses provided on the second halfprojections.

The fastener may further include a flexible hinge positioned between thefirst half and the second half, and integrated with the first half andthe second half. Specifically, the flexible hinge is provided betweenone of the first half projections and the second projection that mateswith the first half projection on which the flexible hinge is provided.

Part or all of the main projections extend radially from the main bodyin a plane along which the first half and the second half are mated. Inaddition to this, some of the main projections may extend from the mainbody in a direction perpendicular to the plane along which the firsthalf and the second half are mated.

The decorative portion may further include one or more decorative sheetsthat are attached to the main body.

The breakable container further includes a string attached to the mainbody, so that the breakable container can be suspended in the air.

The advantages of the present invention are: (1) a breakable containerthat consists of halves so the halves are foldable on each other forspace efficiency; (2) a breakable container that consists of halves thatwhen the halves are attached together provide the same use as anone-piece breakable container; (3) a breakable container that isconvenient and inexpensive to ship because the halves are foldable overeach other; (4) a breakable container that saves space and is easy tostore; a breakable container that is easy to assemble; and (5) abreakable container that provides various combinations of decorationsthat attracts children and increases retail value of the container.

Although the present invention is briefly summarized, the fullerunderstanding of the invention can be obtained by the followingdrawings, detailed description and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with reference to theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an illustrative elevation view of a breakable containeraccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view of a main body of the breakable container;

FIG. 3 is an elevation view of a cone-shaped decoration enclosure;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a first half and a second half that form themain body;

FIG. 5 is an elevation view of the first half and the second half;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 6-6 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 8-8 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is an illustrative elevation view of a breakable containeraccording to the second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is an illustrative elevation view of a breakable containeraccording to the third embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-8 shows a breakable container 10 according to the firstembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows that the breakablecontainer 10 is suspended from a ceiling 12 with a string 14. FIGS. 2, 4and 5 show that the breakable container 10 includes a first half 16, asecond half 18, a fastener 20 to attach the first half 16 and the secondhalf 18 together, and a decorative portion 22. The first half 16 and thesecond half 18 form a hollow main body 24 when the first half 16 and thesecond half 18 are assembled by engaging the fastener 20. The decorativeportion 22 is attached to the main body 24. The first half 16 and thesecond half 18 are made of fragile material, so that the breakablecontainer 10 may be used in games, like a piñata in a birthday party.The hollow main body 24 is used to contain candies or small toys, andthe hollow main body 24 is breakable by wielding a stick, etc. Thefragile material, of which the main body 22 is made, includes paper,plastic foam, Styrofoam and any other soft and breakable material. Thestring 14 is attached to the main body 24.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show that the first half 16 includes one or more firsthalf projections 26, and the second half 18 includes one or more secondhalf projections 28. The first half projections 26 and the second halfprojections 28 form one or more main projections 30 that extend from themain body 24 when the first half 16 and the second half 18 are assembledby engaging the fastener 20.

The decorative portion 22 includes one or more decoration enclosures 32.In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, there are five decoration enclosures32, and the decoration enclosures 32 are cone-shaped. FIG. 3 shows thateach of the decoration enclosures 32 includes a connecting end 34 thatis attached to the main projection 30. FIG. 2 shows that the decorativeportion 22 further includes one or more decorative sheets 62 that areattached to the main body 24. The decoration enclosures 32 or thedecorative sheets 62 may include photographs or designs of famouscharacters, and paper or fabric tassels, pleats, etc.

FIGS. 4, 5, 7 and 8 show that the fastener 20 includes a plurality offixing projections 36 provided on the first half 16 along the matingline 40 between the first half 16 and the second half 18, and aplurality of fixing recesses 38 provided on the second half 18 along themating line 40 between the first half 16 and the second half 18. Thefixing projections 36 are inserted into the fixing recesses 40 and fittight with each other when the first half 16 and the second half 18 areassembled. Specifically, the fixing projections 36 are provided on thefirst half projections 26, and the fixing recesses 38 provided on thesecond half projections 28.

FIGS. 4-6 show that the fastener 20 further includes a flexible hinge 42positioned between the first half 16 and the second half 18. Theflexible hinge 42 is integrated with the first half 16 and the secondhalf 18 so that the halves 16, 18 and the flexible hinge 42 can bemolded or formed as a single piece in a state shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

Specifically, the flexible hinge 42 is provided between one of the firsthalf projections 26 and the second half projection 28 that mates withthe first half projection 26 on which the flexible hinge 42 is provided.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show that the decoration enclosures 32 are attached to themain projections 30 with patches of adhesive tapes 44 that arepre-installed on the main projections 30.

In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-5, the main projections 30extend radially from the main body 24 in a plane 46 along which thefirst half 16 and the second half 18 are mated.

In order to use the breakable container 10, the first half 16 and thesecond half 18 are assembled with the fastener 20. Before fitting thefixing projections 36 into the fixing recesses 38, candies or toys arefilled in the first half 16 and the second half 18. Then afterassembling the halves, a lining paper, which is provided on each of theadhesive tapes 44 are removed, and decoration enclosures 32 are put onthe main projections 56. Candies can also be filled into the decorationenclosures 32 before they are attached to the main body 24. Thedecoration enclosures 32 are fixed on the main projections 56 with theadhesive tapes 44.

FIG. 9 shows a breakable container according to the second embodiment ofthe invention. Only a main body 48 is shown for clarity. The main body48 includes a first half 50 and a second half 52, which are mated witheach other. The main body 48 includes one or more main projections 54that radially extend from the main body 48 in a plane 58 along which thefirst half 50 and the second half 52 are mated. The main body 48 alsoincludes one or more main projections 56 that extend from the main body48 in a direction perpendicular to the mating plane 58. Other details ofthe main body 48 of the second embodiment are the same as those of themain body 24 of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 shows a breakable container 60 according to the third embodimentof the invention. The breakable container 60 includes a main body 64,main projections 66 that extend from the main body 64, and decorationenclosures 68, 70, 72 are that are fitted onto the main projections 66.The main body 64, the main projections 66, and the decoration enclosures68, 70, 72 resemble a shape of an animal when they are assembledtogether. Other details of the main body 64, the main projections 66,and the decoration enclosures 68, 70, 72 are the same as those of thefirst embodiment.

With the above construction, a breakable container, which is very simpleand convenient to produce, and consumes far less storage space, isprovided. The first half and the second half can be molded and formed asa single piece, and the halves can be stacked one another.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference todifferent embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilledin the art that variations in form, detail, compositions and operationmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas defined by the accompanying claims.

1. A breakable container comprising: a) a first half; b) a second half;c) a fastener to attach the first half and the second half together; andb) a decorative portion; wherein the first half and the second half forma hollow main body when the first half and the second half are assembledby engaging the fastener, wherein the decorative portion is attached tothe main body, and wherein the first half and the second half are madeof fragile material.
 2. The breakable container of claim 1 wherein thefirst half comprises one or more first half projections, and the secondhalf comprises one or more second half projections, wherein the firsthalf projections and the second half projections form one or more mainprojections that extend from the main body when the first half and thesecond half are assembled by engaging the fastener, wherein thedecorative portion comprises one or more decoration enclosures, each ofthe decoration enclosures comprises a connecting end that is attached tothe main projection.
 3. The breakable container of claim 2 wherein thedecoration enclosures are cone-shaped.
 4. The breakable container ofclaim 1 wherein the fastener comprises a plurality of fixing projectionsprovided on the first half along the mating line between the first halfand the second half, and a plurality of fixing recesses provided on thesecond half along the mating line between the first half and the secondhalf, wherein the fixing projections are inserted into the fixingrecesses and fit tight with each other when the first half and thesecond half are assembled.
 5. The breakable container of claim 4 whereinthe first half comprises one or more first half projections, and thesecond half comprises one or more second half projections, wherein thefirst half projections and the second half projections form one or moremain projections that extend from the main body when the first half andthe second half are assembled by engaging the fastener, wherein thedecorative portion comprises one or more decoration enclosures, each ofthe decoration enclosure comprises a connecting end that is attached tothe main projection.
 6. The breakable container of claim 5 wherein thefixing projections are provided on the first half projections, and thefixing recesses provided on the second half projections.
 7. Thebreakable container of claim 6 wherein the fastener further comprises aflexible hinge positioned between the first half and the second half,and integrated with the first half and the second half.
 8. The breakablecontainer of claim 7 wherein the flexible hinge is provided between oneof the first half projections and the second projection that mates withthe first half projection on which the flexible hinge is provided. 9.The breakable container of claim 5 wherein the decoration enclosures arecone-shaped.
 10. The breakable container of claim 9 wherein thedecoration enclosures are attached to the main projections with adhesivetapes that are pre-installed on the main projections.
 11. The breakablecontainer of claim 5 wherein at least one of the main projections extendradially from the main body in a plane along which the first half andthe second half are mated.
 12. The breakable container of claim 11wherein at least one of the main projections extend from the main bodyin a direction perpendicular to the plane along which the first half andthe second half are mated.
 13. The breakable container of claim 5wherein the decorative portion further comprises one or more decorativesheets that are attached to the main body.
 14. The breakable containerof claim 5 further comprising a string attached to the main body,whereby the breakable container can be suspended in the air.
 15. Thebreakable container of claim 4 wherein the first half and the secondhalf are made of paper, styrofoam or plastic foam.